| Ursa vittigera | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Araneidae |
| Genus: | Ursa |
| Species: | U. vittigera |
| Binomial name | |
| Ursa vittigera | |
Ursa vittigera is a species of spider of the family Araneidae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. [1]
Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
Ursa is a Latin word meaning bear. Derivatives of this word are ursine or Ursini.
A stabilimentum, also known as a web decoration, is a conspicuous silk structure included in the webs of some species of orb-web spider. Its function is a subject of debate.
A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a "bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying male moths or moth flies nearby, the spider may snag its prey rather like a fisherman snagging a fish on a hook. Because of this, they are also called angling or fishing spiders. The prey is lured to the spider by the production of up to three sex pheromone-analogues.
Araneus is a genus of common orb-weaving spiders. It includes about 650 species, among which are the European garden spider and the barn spider. The genus was erected by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1757.
Nephilengys is a genus of tropical spiders of the family Nephilidae, consisting of two currently described species. The genus Nephilingis has been split off from this genus. Both genera have been called hermit spiders from the habit staying in their retreats during the day; the name eunuch spiders has been used for Nephilengys alone. Males may sever parts of their palpal bulbs after copulation.
Gasteracantha cancriformis is a species of orb-weaver spider. It is widely distributed in the New World.
Argiope protensa, commonly known as the tailed grass spider or teardrop spider, is a species of spider in the orb weaver family, Araneidae. This species is fairly common and widespread in Australasia, but like many spider species, little is known of its ecology, biology, or life history.
Argiope submaronica is a species of spider in the family Araneidae (orb-weavers), found from Mexico to Bolivia, and in Brazil. The name was at one time considered a synonym of Argiope argentata, but A. submaronica is now treated as a separate species. It has also been known under the synonym Argiope savignyi.
Dolichognatha is a genus of tropical and subtropical long-jawed orb-weavers that was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1869. Originally placed with the Archaeidae, it was transferred to the Araneidae in 1967, and to the Tetragnathidae in 1981.
Cyrtophora citricola, also known as the tropical tent-web spider, is an orb-weaver spider in the family Araneidae. It is found in Asia, Africa, Australia, Costa Rica, Hispaniola, Colombia, and Southern Europe and in 2000, it was discovered in Florida. C. citricola differs from many of its close relatives due its ability to live in a wide variety of environments. In North America and South America, the spider has caused extensive damage to agricultural operations.
Darwin's bark spider is an orb-weaver spider that produces the largest known orb webs, ranging from 900 to 28,000 square centimetres, with bridge lines spanning up to 25 metres (82 ft). The spider was discovered in Madagascar in the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in 2009. Its silk is the toughest biological material ever studied. Its tensile strength is 1.6 GPa. The species was named in honour of the naturalist Charles Darwin on November 24, 2009—precisely 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species.
Ursa is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895.
Ursini may refer to:
Nephilingis is a genus of spiders in the family Nephilidae. It was split off from the genus Nephilengys in 2006. Both genera have been called hermit spiders from the habit of staying in their retreats during the day; alternatively the name "hermit spider" may be reserved for Nephilingis, with Nephilengys species called "eunuch spiders".
Allocyclosa is a genus of orb weaver spiders that contains only one species, Allocyclosa bifurca. It was first described in 1887 by McCook under the name Cyrtophora bifurca, and was transferred to its own genus in 1999. It is the only Cyclosa species north of Mexico to have a forked tail, hence the name bifurca, Latin for "two-forked". The forked abdomen, bearing two humps shaped like the letter M, is a defining feature in both males and females, though it is similar to features present in certain Cyrtophora species. Both sexes are a transparent green color, though only females have an area of red on their underside between the epigynum and the spinnerets. Females are nearly thirty percent larger than males, ranging from five to nine millimeters, while males range from two to three millimeters. Males are very uncommon. In a 1977 study by Levi, only two of the nearly 350 specimens that were positively identified as Cyrtophora bifurca were males. This is a very odd distribution, and it has been posed that females of the species, which have less prominent genitalia relative to other members of the orb-weaver family, may be parthenogenic, or able to reproduce without the help of males. Like other members of Araneidae, these spiders create orb webs, six to eight inches in diameter, but apply a unique form of protective mimicry. Females sit in the middle of a vertical row of web decoration, with egg sacs above and wrapped prey below. Because they all have a similar color and shape, it is difficult to discern between the egg sacs, the wrapped prey, and the spider itself.
Taczanowskia is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugen von Keyserling in 1879. Contrary to the common name of the group, spiders of the genus Taczanowskia do not build webs and are furtive hunters, deceiving their prey by producing sex pheromones that attract male moths, and catching their prey by using a pair of enlarged claws at the tip of their anterior legs.
Araniella opisthographa is a species of orb weaver in the spider family Araneidae.
Cyrtarachninae is a subfamily of spiders in the family Araneidae. The group has been circumscribed in several different ways. It originated as the group Cyrtarachneae, described by Eugène Simon in 1892. The group was later treated at different ranks: as a tribe, both under Simon's name and as Cyrtarachnini, and as the subfamily Cyrtarachninae. Circumscriptions have varied. The broadest circumscription, Cyrtarachninae sensu lato (s.l.), includes three of Simon's original groups, including the bolas spiders. Unlike most araneids, members of the subfamily do not construct orb webs, some not using webs at all to capture prey, some using one or more sticky drops on a single line, while others construct webs with few widely spaced non-spiral threads, some triangular. Many have been shown to attract prey by producing analogues of insect sex pheromones, particularly to attract male moths. Adult females may mimic snails, bird droppings and other objects, and so are able to remain exposed during the day time, capturing prey at night.
 | This Araneidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |